2019 Alpina XD3 pairs a 3.0-liter diesel inline six with four turbochargers

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Tri-turbos are so last season. In case you had any doubt about Alpina’s ability to cook up wonderfully delicious diesel BMWs, the tuning house’s Geneva motor show wares should serve as a timely reminder: Alpina will use the event to show off the 2019 BMW X3-based XD3, which packs a quad-turbocharged 3.0-liter diesel inline-six good for 388 hp and 567 lb-ft of torque.

Yes, those are four turbochargers whooshing away at the common-rail high-pressure direct-injected diesel, and with the help of an eight-speed automatic they propel this locomotive from 0 to 62 mph in just 4.6 seconds, and up to a top speed of 165 mph.

If four turbos is two turbos too many, Alpina will also offer a twin-turbo version of this 3.0-liter diesel inline-six in the X3, good for a still-respectable 333 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. Acceleration time drops to 4.9 seconds in this version, but there’s still plenty of torque to pull out tree stumps in the Black Forest.

These stats should give prospective buyers of the gasoline-engined X3 something to think about. If they’re based in Europe, that is. Alpina’s wares rarely make it to the states, even though BMW has offered a few models like the Z8 and the B7 from time to time.

The XD3 also features a slightly reworked interior in addition to 22-inch wheels, a retuned suspension with electronically adjustable dampers and a bodykit.

There’s more to the XD3 than the turbo count and the insane levels of torque: Electronically adjustable dampers, an active limited-slip rear differential, 22-inch wheels and a relatively restrained body kit help round out the package. And, as always, it helps to order one of these in the Alpina-friendly colors like dark blue or dark green.

Depending on who you listen to diesel may be on its way out in Europe, but on paper the XD3 is one of the best arguments we’ve seen to keep diesel around a little while longer, or mandate Alpina-tuned quad-turbo setups for any diesel BMW offered stateside.

We’ll have to wait until the Geneva motor show to find out just how much all this goodness costs, and until that time we’ll put Alpina to the top of the list of the reasons why the U.S. needs more diesel vehicles. And more turbos.